1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a computer system, and more particularly to a computer system having a modular architecture.
2. Related Art
There is a growing demand for computer systems. The shape-types of computer system cases are numerous and varied to meet the different apparatus demands of each user. But for manufacturers to manufacture different case types costs a great deal of money. For the customers, to pick one case type that meets his or her time demand is not easy. Besides, substituting the components inside the case to meet future demands without throwing the case away is not very convenient. Computer system architectures are illustrated below.
As shown in FIG. 1, the peripheral components 103 are moveably installed inside the drawer frame 1011. The drawer 101 is moveably installed inside the case 102. Through this architecture, the user can substitute the components 103 inside the drawer 101, and the number of manufactured case shapes is reduced. However, the shape of the drawer frame 1011 of the drawer 101 and the types of the peripheral components 103 installed inside the drawer frame 1011 are fixed, and thus the flexibility is highly restricted.
As shown in FIG. 2, the drawer 201 provides more functions than the drawer 101 in FIG. 1. The peripheral components 203a and 203b, such as a hard disk drive, a power supply unit, etc., and a mainboard 204 are moveably installed inside the drawer 201. Also, the drawer 201 is moveably installed inside the case 202. Therefore, not only the peripheral components 203a and 203b but also the mainboard 204 are installed inside the drawer 201. Even though each drawer 201 has many components, users may not require all the functions that the components provide. Thus, the apparatus demands of each user cannot be satisfied fully.
In order to meet the apparatus demands of each user, U.S. Patent application number 20020194412 discloses the following architecture. The server blade 500 is moveably installed inside the modular server system 100. The server blade 500 has a keyboard/mouse connector 501, a serial port 502, a push-button reset/abort button 503, status LEDs 504, a video output plug 505, dual ethernet interfaces 506 and 507, a universal serial bus (USB) 508, and a semiconductor memory 510. A media blade 150 is electrically connected to the server blade 500 to provide media functions. The mainboard 204 can be separated from?? the media blade 150 and the server blade 500, but the server blade 500, which provides many functions, still has too many necessary components therein. Thus the apparatus demands of each user still cannot be satisfied fully.
As shown in FIG.3, another modular sever system used for a long time can be inserted at least a printed circuit board installed on peripheral component interconnects 301, input/output connectors 302, memories 303, central processing units 304, voltage regulation modules 305, magneto-optical disk drives 306, small computer standard interfaces 307, SBCDs 308, NBCDs 309, and etc. So, when the user needs more elements than one printed circuit board supplies with, the user has to insert another printed circuit board into the modular server system. And, users have to insert at least a printed circuit board even he or she needs only a few elements on one printed circuit board. Thus, the users have to pay more money and the users' apparatus demands cannot be satisfied fully.